Leave All Behind
by Le Kung Fu Dude
Summary: We've all been in those situations; situations where you cannot change the outcomes; all you can do is wish you could and imagine what you could have done differently. But where do you go from such a situation? What do you do in order to start over? Tigress and her friends are faced with this challenge as they have to move on to a new generation of heroes.
1. Prologue - Shifu

**A/N:** Hello, guys! here I am with my second story! This first chapter is kind of a prologue, so it's kind of short. But future chapters will be longer. :) NOTE that this takes place in an alternate timeline of Kung Fu Panda; one where a happy ending takes a... different turn.  
Either way, i hope you like this. :3

* * *

"It is as Oogway foretold," Shifu said in a somewhat weak voice as he lay there in Po's arms, looking up at the panda. "You have brought peace… to this valley… and… and me… Thank you… Thank you… Po. Thank you."

The last 'thank you' that came after this faded into a whisper as Shifu closed his eyes. As the red panda's entire body relaxed, he just lay there lifelessly.

"No… Master! No, no, no, don't die!" Po pleaded. The great panda felt how the tears were trying to escape, but he still tried his best to hold them in. "Shifu, please!"

But the old Master didn't open his eyes again. Po felt heartbroken. Granted, he had only known the Master for a few days and out of these, he had only been nice to Po for a few of these. But to see the old panda die… no, it was all too much.

He was the great Master Shifu! How could he die now? He had seemed to have survived the battle with Tai Lung, but it had still been too much for the old Master.

"It is all… my fault!" Po nearly shouted, slamming his fist against the palace floor. If I had just figured it out – if he had just figured out the secret of the scroll earlier… If he had, Shifu wouldn't have had to die!

"Shifu…" Po said, having no strength left to hold in his tears. The first tear fell from his eye, falling onto Shifu's lifeless being. It was almost as if he could see it as it fell; he even felt as if he could hear it as it softly hit the red panda's forehead.

"Master!" Just then Po was shoved aside by a powerful paw. Po almost fell, but regained balance. Just then he saw Tigress, taking Shifu into her arms.

Po was stunned; had never seen the tough Master act this way. The closest he had ever gotten was seeing the sadness in her face when she told him about Tai Lung that one night.

Po stepped aside, allowing the other Masters to get to the dead master. Seeing the sadness and misery in their faces was almost worse than the one he felt himself. And Po knew that they had more reason to be sad than he had; after all, they had trained with Master Shifu for years and he had been training for days only.

Po and the others watched Tigress as she held the Master in her arms, hugging him closely. She had just lost something precious in her life and she looked just like one that had. Suddenly Po saw something that he had never expected; tears.

They slowly made their way down her cheeks and landed on Shifu. Po carefully brought up a hand and tried to wipe his own away. Tigress looked up and suddenly realized that Po had seen her cry.

In response to this, Tigress got to her feet and as more tears kept falling, she suddenly started running towards the exit of the palace.

"Tigress!" Viper called, but her sobbing made her voice sound strange and nearly unrecognizable. But the feline didn't respond; she just kept running, not looking back.

"G-guys," Po said, snorting in, wiping more tears away. "What do we do now?... guys?"

"I don't know, Po," Viper said, still crying. "I'm sorry, but I really don't know."

Po looked down. He guessed that the task of thinking about a solid solution to a future was too hard of a task at this moment. Po sighed and looked down. There were no more tears now. No, now there was only a void that needed to be filled – a void inside his heart as well as the others'.


	2. Fate

**A/N:** Well, this is a relatively short chapter as well... the reason; I couldn't get anything else matched into the chapter. I'm not kidding, I didn't know what else to include... Oh well, either way, I hope it was at least somewhat enjoyable; next chapter will be better, I promise! ^^;

* * *

It was with a heavy sigh that Viper reentered the gates of the palace. It was just as destroyed as it had been since the day that Tai Lung had attacked it; repairing hadn't even started yet. And who knew if it ever would?

The reason for this was the discussions that Po and the Five had had with some of the palace staff. Most of the staff saw closing the palace as the only possibility, seeing that there was no Master to take over the palace.

Of course, Po had wanted to take over, but the palace staff didn't quite want to entrust him with such a task. They knew how great a hero Po had been, but they didn't want the Dragon Warrior to take over the palace. Instead, they had wanted one of the Furious Five to inherit responsibility of the palace – just like Shifu had.

But the Five had not decided who could do it or who wanted to – at least not four of them.

Tigress hadn't returned since she ran off the day that Shifu passed away. The feline had spent days meditating by the Peachtree of Heavenly Wisdom, refusing to return until she knew what to do with herself – she didn't even return for his burial.

Once again, Viper had been there, trying to both convince the feline to return and to convince her to eat as well; she hadn't eaten for five days; all she had done was to meditate, not even seeming to notice Viper.

It truly hurt Viper to see her friend this upset, even though she didn't show it the way that the others did. The others had their heads low, didn't quite talk and all had a somewhat sad expression on their faces all the time; Tigress kept up her straight face as she meditated and not the least bit of expression ever crossed her face.

"Any luck today?" Monkey asked halfheartedly as Viper entered the kitchen. The golden-furred primate was still cleaning the kitchen, getting rid of some of the broken furniture. It appeared that Tai Lung had also wrecked the kitchen, although the Five didn't know what the actual cause had been.

"No, she still doesn't want to eat," Viper sighed. "If she keeps this up, she'll starve to death."

"I don't think we can convince her to return," Monkey sighed, picking up a piece of wood from one of the shelves. "She will return when she feels like it feels right, you know?"

"I guess," Viper said. "I'm just worried… Where are the others?"

"With the staff," Monkey said, continuing his cleaning. "They're having the final meeting today – the fate of the palace will… Viper?"

But the reptilian was already gone.

As fast as she could, Viper hurried towards the Peachtree. She saw that the sun was already setting, casting a beautiful orange light over the valley. Usually she would have enjoyed a sight like that, but now the sunset was like an indication of the end of day – the last day they had to save Jade Palace.

"Tigress, please listen to me," Viper said once she got back to the feline. She sat exactly the same way she had had all the time. "You don't have to say anything, just listen."

Viper knew that Tigress usually wouldn't take this very well. Viper just hoped that the feline would at least react now.

"Today… today the fate of our home – _your _home will be sealed," Viper said, watching Tigress all the while. Tigress just sat there in a cross-legged position with her eyes closed, facing the valley before her. "Tigress… if none of us do anything… we will have nowhere to be. Tigress… please; listen to me."

"Tigress… We have to do something," Viper said. Viper thought about what to say for a moment, then got an idea; what if Tigress could take over the responsibility of the palace? "But you… you were Shifu's prize student; if anyone can take care of the palace, it'd be you… If you don't… If you don't… If you don't, I don't know who would…"

Viper waited for Tigress to reply, but she just sat there, eyes still closed. Viper sighed again. "Whatever you decide to do, Tigress… You'll always be my… our friend."

As Viper left, Tigress opened one eye. She did not turn her head, but simply listened as the reptilian left. Viper wanted her to take over the palace…? No, she simply couldn't. She had loved Shifu too much and now taking over what he once was… No, the misery of the memories would be unbearable.

But then again, if Tigress didn't who else would? Could she really live with the Jade Palace being closed? Or what if someone else took over the palace – someone unworthy?

* * *

"This is the last time," the goose said. "We need someone who can take over the palace!"

"But why won't you let Po do it?" Crane asked. Po, Mantis and he were all gathered in the ruined Hall of Warriors with the palace staff members.

"Because – he has only been the Dragon Warrior for a few days," the goose replied. "How can we entrust the palace to someone we hardly trust?"

"Then why can't any of us do it?" Mantis growled.

"You already know – we cannot entrust the palace to any person!" the goose replied.

"Hey, some of us have been here longer than you have," Mantis growled back. Suddenly the door opened.

Everyone turned their heads and saw… Tigress! The feline looked nothing like she once had; her fur was somewhat greasy and messy and she looked a lot skinnier around the waist due to having not eaten for nearly a week.

"I… I will take responsibility for the palace," Tigress said, her voice a little raspy due to having talked for days either. And as much as it hurt her to say, she added, "In Master Shifu's place."

"Why should we…?"

"I am Shifu's daughter," Tigress said, feeling a broad mix of emotions run through her – pride and joy due to finally be able to say these words out loud; pain due to the memory of Shifu. "I will take his place."

The goose said nothing. He looked at his fellow staff members, then over at Po and his friends. "Very well then – so be it! As of today, the Master of the Jade Palace shall be Master Tigress!"

"No," Tigress said. "I don't wish to be higher ranked than my friends – they shall be my fellow Masters here."

The geese looked at each other, thinking about it for a moment. But eventually they all agreed.

"Tigress?" Po asked carefully once the palace staff members had left.

"Po?" she asked. It was still somewhat strange to Po – hearing her voice again and all.

"You do realize something, right?"

"And what is that?" she asked, somewhat confused.

"You're going to be one of the greatest Kung Fu Masters ever now!" Po said excitedly. This actually managed to get a little smile out of Tigress and Po himself grinned widely, seeing that she was no longer sad – at least not as much as a week ago.

"Now, where do we start?" Mantis asked Tigress after a few moments of silence.

"Zeng!" Tigress called. Soon the goose was there. He was wearing his usual yellow robes and already seemed very obedient towards Tigress.

"Yes, Master Tigress?" the little goose asked.

"Find the palace staff," Tigress requested. "Tell them to start cleaning; the palace shall be as beautiful as it was before by the end of this week!"

Po couldn't help but smile widely; seeing Tigress take on Shifu's commanding persona was somehow incredibly thrilling. Po could almost feel how much she felt it; he could almost see it in her appearance; when he looked at her, he could almost see how much she resembled Shifu.

"Guys, what's go-, Tigress!" Tigress turned her head and saw Viper. "You came back."

"Of course," Tigress said with a faint smile. Soon Monkey joined them as well. "I just needed to reflect on myself… I couldn't ignore what you told me; besides, the palace needs me to stand up. Doing otherwise would just be selfish."

"That is good to hear!" Monkey said joyously. "But Tigress, right now I think you need something to eat."

"Yeah, look at you," Crane agreed. "You're starting to look like me!"

Tigress smiled to herself, knowing that the life of her and her friends would never be the same, they were no longer students. No, they now had the possibility of becoming Masters – teachers – themselves. Just like Shifu and Oogway had been before them. This was when Tigress realized it; her fate was not to become the Dragon Warrior; her fate was not to defeat Tai Lung. No, her fate was to get Jade Palace rebuilt and take responsibility for it.

"Come on, Po," Tigress said with a faint smile. "We have a lot to clean up."

Leaving, Tigress turned around and briefly looked into the palace one final time before exiting. She whispered to herself, "I finally understand; _this_ is what you trained me for."

Tigress could almost imagine Shifu standing there in the hall, nodding with a proud expression on his face. Tigress' smile grew wider and so did her newly found motivation.


	3. Something Beautiful

**A/N:** Hi there! This is mainly a filler-chapter, but I didn't feel like adding the reconstruction-part of the story to what's to come next. Anyways, i hope you'll still enjoy this chapter! As always, thanks for the support on the story! :D

* * *

It was beautiful. It wasn't quite done yet, but it was beautiful. The expense of the entire thing was huge, but it would be worth it – no doubt.

Tigress knew this, but she was completely determined to make the Jade Palace perfect; she wanted to make it beautiful as it was before. With the help of the palace staff, she and her friends had already managed to get rid of all the destroyed things and gotten most of the damages repaired, even thought there was still a long way to go.

"Master Tigress, the masons have arrived," Zeng told her. Tigress was busy – just in the middle of something quite special.

"Just show them where they're needed," she told the goose, sounding rather distracted. Looking around the Sacred Hall of Warriors, Zheng could tell that it had been taken great care of. But what surprised him was the fact that Tigress had done it all by himself.

"Zeng?" Tigress said, getting Zeng out of his staring around the hall.

"Oh, pardon, Master Tigress, I should get going!" the goose squealed and quickly left the hall.

Tigress hadn't allowed anyone else, besides the masons to work on restoring the Hall of Warriors to what it once was; as soon as the walls and ceiling had been repaired, Tigress had taken care of everything else by herself – cleaning decorating and redecorating.

Tai Lung had managed to destroy some of the things in the hall, but fortunately it hadn't been too hard to fix, even though some masons and various other people had had to take a look at it.

Seeing that it had to be perfect, Tigress remembered exactly how everything looked before; she had spent her entire life at the Jade Palace. Seeing that everything was lined up perfectly this far, she continued on the special thing she had been working on.

Tigress had chronologically rearranged everything in the Hall; the old stuff at the beginning and the older stuff in the end just before the Moon Pool. Tigress had spent an entire twenty-four hours in the hall, having not left it because of what she had been working on.

Taking a short break, Tigress sighed and looked back on everything she had been through with Shifu. She had experienced joy and pain with her Master… Mainly the latter due to her training.

Tigress remembered her first time training with the Iron-Wood Trees. As a young cub, Tigress had barely been able to throw a punch against the trees, but she was still determined to do it – to make Shifu proud.

It had logically resulted in Tigress' bones in her fingers cracking on countless occasions. But even then, she kept training no matter what. And now… Tigress had no sense of feeling in her hands anymore – not at all. It was very useful in combat, but sometimes it was hard for her to judge just how tightly she held onto or around something.

However, Tigress had learned to live with this. But still, she had never heard those words 'I'm proud of you'. No, not once in his life had Shifu ever said that. But in her mind, Tigress truly knew that Shifu was proud of her – even despite having never said so.

Once she had looked at the old panda after performing a rather difficult technique. A gleam of surprise and amazement had shot across the old Master's face, but he had quickly told her to correct a few 'mistakes'. Today Tigress knew that these mistakes that Shifu would always correct were because he didn't know how to say that he was proud of her – at least that's what Tigress thought.

Tigress decided that it was time – time to let the others see what she had made. Exiting the Hall of Warriors for the first time in twenty-our hours, she went to find her friends.

Briefly shielding her eyes from the setting sun, she made her way out into the real world. Tigress eventually found her friends around various places within the palace's grounds, cleaning and repairing.

From the looks of it, they were almost completely done. But as happy as Tigress was about this, she knew that they would have to wait a while before they got the chance to finish up.

The first one she found was Crane. "Crane… I'm finished with cleaning the Hall of Warriors… and… I've made… something… and I would like you all to come and see it… can you find the others for me?"

"Of course," Crane said, leaving the things he had swept together as well as the broom and flew off to find the others.

* * *

The five other Masters found Tigress in front of the door to the Hall of Warriors. The new door looked exactly like the old one, so at that point, there was no real difference.

"Everyone," Tigress said, immediately resembling Shifu in her tone of voice. "I would like to… welcome you all to the New Hall of Warriors."

Without any other words, Tigress opened the door and along with her friends, she entered. The others were all amazed at how effectively and quick the tiger had worked on the hall – and even all alone!

As Tigress led her friends through the Hall, she told about the rearrangement and the changes she had added. They were somewhat minor, but the others all like it.

Finally they came to the pearl of the hall.

"… and then I added this…" Tigress, said, feeling her voice starting to trail off.

"Tigress… this is amazing," Viper said.

"I made it myself," Tigress muttered, blushing somewhat.

"I like it," Po said. The others all agreed, making Tigress smile widely, but also forced her to look down as her cheeks somewhat blushed.

Looking at it, Po could clearly tell that Tigress had taken all the pride she had for her Master… and more or less made a shrine for him, just before the Moon Pool. It was a big part of the wall, only dedicated to her old Master and father.

Shifu's flute was presented as well as a staff, which he had used for fighting as well as the staff that had been passed down from Oogway to Shifu. Behind the staff there were two paintings; one of Shifu and one of Oogway, their sides meeting on the middle of the staff. There was also a small portrait of each of the Five – Shifu's last students (Po's portrait was yet to be made).

But the thing that meant the most to Tigress was a certain painting next to the painting of Shifu. It was a very old one, Tigress had just happened to come across it while cleaning the archives.

It was a portrait of Shifu and a young Tigress standing next to him. Tigress was smiling while Shifu had a rather stiff expression. Nonetheless, it was the only portrait that there was of Shifu and Tigress together, so that way, it meant a lot to Tigress.

Tigress had had to force herself to let the picture stay in the Hall of Warriors instead of bringing it to her own barrack. It might have just been a painting, but to Tigress it was everything – a precious memento; a reminder of the family bond she had always felt towards Shifu, even despite his distancing; it was something beautiful.


	4. Path of Decision

**A/N:** Alright, this chapter is somewhat short, but I feel like it's a somewhat important transition between the past chapter and the next. It will feature a few fateful decisions and it will be vital for the story. S I hope you'll like it! :)

* * *

Tigress opened her eyes. She found herself in her bed. Looking out of her window, Tigress could tell that it was afternoon. How long had she been sleeping? She didn't even know.

Getting up, Tigress used her paw to cover her mouth as she yawned deeply. She quickly stretched her arms, then decided that it'd be best to go see what the others were doing.

Exiting the barracks, she eventually found the others in the kitchen. They weren't eating, but were seemingly discussing something.

"Okay, who says yes?" Viper finally asked. At this, she stuck the tip of her tail in the air. At the same time, everyone stuck a hand in the air, actually agreeing. Whatever it was, Tigress didn't know what they were talking about, but it was always nice to see her friends agree on something.

"Tigress, you're up," Po said happily when he saw her.

"How long have I been sleeping?" she asked.

"An entire day," Po replied.

An entire day… Had she really wasted an entire day asleep? Ugh, how could she ever call herself a worthy Master of Jade Palace if she could let something as simple as sleep overcome herself? "So… what were you discussing?"

"We were just talking about doing like Shifu," Monkey said. "You know, pass our skills down to the next generation."

"But Shifu never had children," Mantis said bluntly.

"Mantis – not like that!" Viper hissed at the insect.

"You mean teaching new students?" Tigress asked, immediately not liking the idea.

"Yeah," Viper said. "I'm certain that it will be a good thing for us – besides, we will continue the tradition."

Tigress remained quiet for quite a long time, immediately worrying her friends. "Already? Isn't it a little too early?"

"No, we decided that now was the perfect time," Crane said in a technical tone of voice. "See, Jade Palace is perfectly rebuilt and we believe that now would be the perfect time."

"I'm sorry, guys," Tigress said. "But I just can't see myself as a Master just yet."

"But Tigress," Po said. "I can't either. I have just become the Dragon Warrior right? But I still feel like, like, it'd be best to start early – we'll probably also learn a thing or two, right?"

Tigress thought about it for a moment. She honestly didn't feel like the six were ready yet. Sure, they had had the title of Master for a long time – except for Po – but were they really ready to inherit the title of Grandmaster?

"You know, we could always start with one or two students," Mantis said. "You know, so we can see how well we do at that. After that we can, like, get more in if it turns out to go well."

Tigress still didn't say anything. But seeing her friends and their eyes full of hope, Tigress couldn't help but feel herself gaining more hope. What harm could it do? The worst that could happen would be if they failed and the students would have to return home as failures. Not only would it be bad for the students, but also for the palace's name. And that was exactly what Tigress was afraid of; being a disgrace to Oogway and Shifu's names.

"If you all insist," Tigress said with a sigh. "I could give it a chance after all."

"Awesome!" Po said. "But now we just need some students…"

"Wait, I think we should agree on a number first," Crane said, stating a pretty good point.

"I say not five," Viper said. "I think it's too early for such a number."

"Maybe three?" Monkey suggested.

"Three…? I think that'd work out," Po said.

"Agreed," Viper said.

"Now where do we find the students?"

"Perhaps we should do like Oogway did," Tigress suggested. "He traveled the country in search of students."

"So be it!" Po said excitedly. "But who goes?"

Po and soon everyone else looked over at Tigress, wanting her to take charge as she was now officially the head of the palace. Tigress thought for a moment about it. "Po, Mantis and Crane will go."

"But wait, only us?" Po asked confused. "What if something happens?"  
"Do not worry, Po," Tigress said. "I have faith in all of you. I however will travel in a different… direction."

"Where do you plan on going?" Mantis asked.

"Just… a place I know," Tigress said calmly. "But I would prefer to go there alone. If it is okay with you."

"Of course," Viper said. "If you really want to, it's probably the best idea."

* * *

"Alright, guys, we'll see you in a few days," Po said and waved goodbye to his friends as he, Mantis and Crane started their journey. The trio was traveling with as few belongings as possible, even though Po had had to carry quite a large backpack with food and various necessities.

"Good luck!" Monkey called after them and waved.

"See you!" Viper called as well. Tigress just smiled faintly and waved shortly as her three friends left. But now… she had her own journey ahead of her. She hadn't told any of the others where she planned on going. Mainly because it was a place that meant way too much to her and it was possible that she would have a break down upon arriving.

But Tigress had decided to wait a day before starting her journey. Viper looked at the tiger with a worried expression, as it was probably obvious that Tigress had a lot on her mind. Tigress just sent her a small reassuring smile, not wanting Viper to worry about her.

But eventually the next day came. It had almost come faster than Tigress had expected. It was almost as if she had barely slept at all that night. Maybe because she knew what was to come the next day?

Right before leaving, she told Viper and Monkey to take care of everything while she was gone. The promised that they would and soon Tigress was on her way down the staircase of Jade Palace. She wasn't going very far away, so it hadn't been necessary to pack a lot of stuff, unlike Po and the others.

Walking through the village, she couldn't help but feel somewhat melancholic. The place that she was going to wasn't quite a place of happy memories. Maybe except one. But that memory was but a memory. Now that Shifu was gone all Tigress had was memories.

If Tigress was to ever become as great a Master as Shifu, she knew she would have to cope with these. But how? Especially now that she was… going back. But maybe it was all she needed – confrontation with her past? Maybe it was the best idea to go there? Maybe that was why she had even wanted to go there at first?

As she got to the outskirts of the village, Tigress knew that there wasn't a long way. In fact, she could already see it up ahead; the Bao Gu Orphanage.


	5. Future Past

**A/N:** So... yeah, here we start with the OCs... I don't know if you guys will like the students that I have planned... or if you even like OCs in general... but I hope you will like mine nonetheless. So, anything goes and so do we! (Sounded a lot better in my head... there it also made sense ^^;).

* * *

It was challenging enough for Tigress to even go near the orphanage; going inside was a whole other story. She hadn't been there since she was a very young child; since the day Shifu had adopted her, she hadn't given thought to it again.

But now she had to go in there. Tigress wasn't quite sure what in her life had led her to do this. Shifu's death perhaps? If it wasn't for that – her obtaining the title, Master of the Jade Palace – she probably wouldn't have come there.

Yet here she was. And now there was no turning back. Tigress knocked the door. Sighing deeply, Tigress knocked the door. It was soon opened by a gray furred sheep. She seemed pretty old and Tigress recognized her as one of the caretakers that had been there when Tigress had.

The sheep looked very old and she seemed very surprised, almost shocked to see Tigress – she probably still remembered her.

"M-Master Tigress?" she asked surprised. "What brings you here?"

"Hello," Tigress said calmly. "May I come in? I will explain everything."

Tigress was eventually let in. Tigress could tell that her old caretaker was glad that Tigress had changed. Tigress also sensed a lot happier atmosphere compared to the last time she was there.

Stepping inside, a ton of memories overwhelmed her; the smells, the atmosphere, the children that ran around and most of all, the surroundings. Seeing a couple of children sit on the floor, playing with dominoes, forming various patterns, Tigress couldn't help but smile, even though being in the orphanage was challenging for her – emotionally at least.

Eventually Tigress and the sheep joined a few more caretakers. The four sat down by a table… and as much as it hurt her, Tigress eventually started telling them all why she had come. She started from the beginning with Shifu's death. Tigress really had to use all her self-control to contain herself during this.

"I'm so sorry about Shifu," one of the caretakers said with a voice of true compassion. "He was a good man."

Tigress calmly nodded. She then continued with her story; how she had had to take Shifu's place; how the others and she had decided to take in new students and that she had come to the orphanage to search for candidates.

"Well, what do you search?" one of the caretakers, a dog asked. She exchanged looks with the sheep that had let Tigress in seemed somewhat worried for some reason. Tigress didn't know why, but somehow she had the feeling that something was wrong.

"Do you have any… outcasts here?" Tigress chose to ask and she got just the reaction she had hoped for and expected. They all looked very surprised and exchanged a lot of looks of different expressions. It wasn't hard for Tigress to figure that she probably wasn't even supposed to know anything about this. But the caretakers of the orphanage soon led her through the orphanage.

As she proceeded, Tigress noticed that there weren't many children, but one of the caretakers explained that most of them were outside playing with some of the other caretakers.

"There is this one child that arrived a few years ago," one of the caretakers said. "He is… something else."

"He has never socialized with the other children," Tigress' old caretaker said. "When the other children are playing, he just sits in his room in complete darkness."

It sounded somewhat strange to Tigress. Yet, it also sounded surprisingly familiar. She couldn't help but wonder if he was locked in there or if he even locked himself in there.

As Tigress made her way through the orphanage, she did see a few children. Most of them seemed to recognize and looked at her with surprised and amazed gazes. Tigress just sent them small smiles, which seemed to surprise them. Tigress couldn't help but wonder if they knew about her story – how she had also lived in the orphanage.

"This is his room," one of the caretakers said when the group came to the end of a corridor. The door seemed somewhat broken and Tigress immediately recognized it – this was the room that she would usually have been locked in.

Just knowing this was hurtful, but entering… It was far more challenging than the caretakers understood. But Tigress still did it. She managed to step through the door to find the very same room that had caused her so much misery in her childhood.

She found the room to look exactly the same, except it wasn't nearly destroyed. Tigress just guessed that whoever lived in here was a bit calmer than she had been as a child.

The room was dark and Tigress couldn't see anyone in there, even with her nightvision.

"Panther?" one of the caretakers asked. Immediately a pair of dark blue eyes appeared, slightly glowing in the dark.

"So your name is panther?" Tigress asked in the friendliest tone she could muster and stepped inside.

"No, that's just what they call me," the young panther said bitterly. He closed his eyes again, making him nearly invisible, even though Tigress' eyes were already adjusting to the darkness.

"So, do you have a name?" Tigress asked in a kind tone of voice.

"… No, I was never cared for, so I didn't even get a name." The young panther stopped. After a while he continued. "But why do you even want to talk to me?"

Tigress thought for a moment, trying to word it correctly inside her head. Kindly she asked, "Do you know who I am?"

"No," the young panther replied. "But you look like you know this place."

"I do," Tigress said calmly, impressed by how the young panther had been able to figure that out. "My name is Master Tigress; I'm a Kung Fu Master."

"Master Tigress?" Suddenly Tigress heard the panther fumble around with something. Suddenly Tigress heard a 'swoosh' as a pair of window shutters were pushed aside. Daylight and fresh air streamed inside and Tigress immediately sensed and felt the difference in atmosphere, even though Tigress had to shield her eyes from the strong light at first.

Once the two could see each other, Tigress could see that the young panther looked at her with a surprised gaze. Now Tigress was also finally able to see him completely.

He was young, very young-looking in fact; Tigress guessed that he was about ten of age. He wore some old, torn robes, which were nothing worth talking about. As expected, he was covered in black fur all over, though Tigress was also able to see some lighter spots.

But these spots looked different from leopard spots – both the shape and color. Tigress knew that leopard's with black fur usually had lighter fur all over as a pose to having lighter spots instead. And the boy also seemed way too skinny to be a leopard. Tigress' immediate guess was that he was actually a cheetah. If he was, this was Tigress' first time seeing a black cheetah.

"So you do know me," Tigress said softly, sending the young cheetah a smile. The black cheetah simply nodded.

"You… you lived in this very room, didn't you?" he asked.

Tigress shrugged calmly, still smiling somewhat. "I wouldn't quite say that I… Alright, actually I did live here."

"At least I spent most of my time in here," Tigress continued. The young cheetah nodded. Seemingly he already knew. "But the reason I came here… Master Shifu is dead."

"Yes, so I've heard," the young cheetah said and looked away for a short moment.

"And we needed new students at the palace," Tigress said. "And I see a lot of myself when I look at you. The caretakers told that you don't talk to anyone here?"

"No," the young cheetah replied shortly

"How come?"

"They're not on par with me." Tigress looked up and down the cheetah. He was so skinny that the other children probably were, at least in the weight-department. Her staring caused the cheetah to add, "Intellectually."

Listening to him, Tigress found either none or very little arrogance in his voice as he said this. The young cheetah then explained how he had always preferred to read and study the few scrolls that the orphanage owned. As time had gone on, the caretakers had eventually bought more scrolls for him when going to get groceries in the village.

"They mainly did it because they hoped I'd grow tired of it," the cheetah sighed. "They always wanted me to… socialize."

"But you never wanted to?" Tigress asked. He shook his head. It seemed that as much as he had in common with Tigress' childhood, there were also a lot of differences.

"And now… they don't care anymore," he said bitterly. "They don't even want to socialize with me – the other kids."

"But you want to?" The young cheetah didn't answer.

A few moments of silence went by. Suddenly the black cheetah realized what Tigress had said moments ago. "Wait, you need new students? You mean that you came here to make me one?"

Tigress nodded as the young cheetah seemed to think a lot about it. "It is only if you want to."

The two sat in the room for a few minutes. Outside they could hear the other children running around, playing. And eventually the young cheetah made up his mind.

"Right, I accept then," he said, sounding way too mature for one his age. Tigress smiled at him. Suddenly he asked, "So… I am to call you Master now?"

"When we train, yes," Tigress said as the two exited the room. The caretakers that had waited outside seemed surprise to see sunlight from the window – they probably didn't know it was there even!

"He'll come with me," Tigress told the caretakers softly.

The caretaker that had been there when Tigress was a cub smiled. "So you decided to let Panther become a student like yourself… that's so sweet of you."

"No," Tigress replied, getting a surprised look from all the caretakers and from the black cheetah himself. "Not Panther; Hui Dao."

"Hui Dao," one of the caretakers muttered. She couldn't help but wonder why Tigress would risk naming the cheetah such; it could be a bad omen – it did mean Dark Blade after all. Tigress' old caretaker wondered the same, but eventually had faith that Tigress would take good care of the boy.

"Splendid," one of the caretakers said with a smile. She then turned to Hui Dao. "Goodbye, Hui Dao – we wish you the best of luck."

"Thank you," Hui Dao said and bowed to all of his now past caretakers. Tigress just smiled and the two left. Tigress couldn't help but wonder how her friends were doing. Had they been just as lucky with the students that they had found?

As the two walked, Tigress gently placed a paw on Hui Dao's shoulder. The cheetah hadn't spoken a word since they had left the Bao Gu Orphanage, but there was probably a lot on his mind… And Tigress couldn't blame him; she remembered just the way she had felt when she had left Bao Gu with Shifu. She had felt a mixture of happiness and nervousness.

Realizing that Hui Dao reminded her of so much – mainly Shifu and her memories with him – she also realized that Hui Dao was her future, even though his present contained elements of her own past – the past within the future.


	6. Trace of a Broken Past

**A/N:** And I've done it again... Sorry, guys, here's another short chapter... I don't know if you guys mind, but I just find them as satisfying as the longer ones... Either way, enjoy. ^^;

* * *

"Try and hit it," Tigress said softly. She and Hui Dao were in the training hall. She had shown the young cheetah the Hall of Warriors and now she was showing him the Training Hall. Hui Dao was standing in front of the adversary, the very same that had managed to knock one of the Dragon Warrior's teeth out.

Hui Dao hesitated a little at first – much like the Dragon Warrior had. He hit it somewhat softly, not impressing Tigress utterly. "Maybe a little harder?"

In response to this Hui Dao smashed his fist against it. It was a perfectly straight punch – going in a completely horizontal line through the air at high speed. The strength of the impact itself didn't seem too thrilling, but it did manage to send the Adversary flying a few meters away.

"That is better," Tigress said, smiling at Hui Dao. "Here, try this."

Tigress brought her arms up in the start position for Kung Fu training and Hui Dao walked up beside her and did the same. Tigress then showed the young cheetah a few punching techniques, which the cheetah mirrored nearly perfectly.

To put it bluntly, Tigress was impressed – very impressed in fact. From what she knew, Hui Dao had never had any Kung Fu training, but he was doing surprisingly well. In a sense, Tigress was both envying and thrilled by how Hui Dao seemed to do better than she had done her during her first training.

"Now try it on that," Tigress said, nodding towards the adversary. Hui Dao walked up to it, then brought his left hand up in the air and slashed downwards to the right, then smashed his right fist forwards.

The Adversary wasn't sent very far, only about a meter or so. And due to not being able to withdraw his claws, Hui Dao had left some claw marks on the Adversary.

"Good job," Tigress said, smiling at Hui Dao… although she wasn't too thrilled about the claw marks that her young student had left. "But try using some power next time."

"I did," Hui Dao said, crossing his arms.

"Did you hit it as hard as you could?" Hui Dao nodded. In that case, there was a lot to improve on. The technique that Hui Dao seemed to utilize was perfect, almost flawless. But if he couldn't muster more force than he had just displayed… There was a lot to work on.

"Fine, that means that we will have to build up some of your muscles first of all," Tigress said. Hui Dao just raised an eyebrow in a somewhat insulted way, but he didn't say anything – just took it the way it was handled to him.

Suddenly the door to the Training Hall was opened and Monkey and Viper stepped inside.

"Oh, you're already back," Viper said surprised. When Tigress had returned to Jade Palace, she had started directly with showing Hui Dao around, having even given the cheetah time to meet her fellow Masters that were at the palace.

Tigress nodded.

"This is Hui Dao," Tigress introduced the young cheetah. "Hui Dao, this is Master Viper and Master Monkey."

Hui Dao bowed for them and they bowed to him as well.

"Nice to meet you," Viper said.

"Yeah," Monkey said, smiling. "It's not often you see a melanistics around these parts."

Hui Dao's faint smile immediately got a bit fainter and his eyes suddenly started frequently looking around, trying not to look at Monkey. His tail also started swaying from side to side rather quickly, so Tigress quickly realized that Monkey had said something that Hui Dao didn't like – perhaps it had even hurt him.

"I think I better show you the barracks," Tigress told Hui Dao, glaring a little at Monkey. Monkey didn't quite seem to understand, but Viper had a certain idea about it.

* * *

"Are you alright?" Tigress asked Hui Dao as the two made their way across the palace's courtyard on their way to the barracks.

"Fine," Hui Dao replied shortly, barely moving his mouth at all. Tigress looked intriguingly at her young student for a moment. His dark blue eyes were cold and didn't reveal a thing; his body language didn't show anything either. If it wasn't because she had seen his reaction in the Training Hall, Tigress would have had no chance of knowing that something was wrong.

"Hui Dao, if something was wrong, would you tell me?" Tigress asked worriedly. She was truly concerned about him – even after having known him for only a few hours.

"Possibly," Hui Dao said, suddenly finding some of the trees that they came across on the way interesting.

Tigress stopped. "Hui Dao, I'm just worried – won't you tell me what's wrong?"

Hui Dao stopped as well, looking straight forwards, not looking at Tigress. Tigress tried to walk up and stand in front of Hui Dao, but it was as if the black cheetah looked right through her.

"Hui Dao?" Tigress asked worriedly.

"Nothing…" Hui Dao said, still staring. "It's nothing."

"Hui Dao…"

"Master, I'm fine," Hui Dao said determinedly. "If there is ever something that bothers me, I'll make sure to let you know."

Hui Dao even bowed to Tigress, surprising her quite a bit. Tigress eventually decided that was the way it had to be; if Hui Dao had anything on his mind, he would probably tell her.

Continuing, Tigress eventually showed him the barracks and the room in which he would be sleeping. It was located right next to Tigress'. Tigress took a look up and down Hui Dao as the young cheetah took a look around his new room. His old torn clothes were seemingly ones that needed to be replaced. Tigress wrote herself a mental note to do that and already thought about what to give Hui Dao.

"So… When will the real training begin?" Hui Dao asked suddenly.

"It will begin tomorrow morning," Tigress said calmly. She could sense that Hui Dao was anxious… perhaps even nervous. Tigress immediately figured that he was nervous because he had seen some of the big training mechanisms.

Tigress remembered her first time with the Gauntlets of Wooden Warriors. It hadn't quite been like Shifu had hoped for… in fact, he had seemed disappointed. But Tigress wouldn't make the same mistake with Hui Dao – she would be proud and encourage him no matter what the outcome of his first training session would be.

"You will be having the rest of the day off," Tigress said as she was about to leave. "I will send Zheng to tell you when dinner is about to be served."

"Alright, Master," Hui Dao said calmly. He looked around his room again. Tigress could clearly see the longing for objects and Tigress decided that although it wouldn't be a lot, she would allow Hui Dao to have some personal stuff in his room. She would most likely bring him to the village one of the days.

"I'll see you at dinner," Tigress said calmly and left the cheetah alone. Tigress still tried to figure out what was going on inside the head of her new student. If she wanted to develop a close teacher-student-relationship with him, she would have to get to know him better.


	7. Strength and Weakness

**A/N:** Finally here's an update! ^^ I decided to let this chapter focus around Hui Dao, since I think that a good OC also needs some content - even when this is a Tigress story. ^^; Anyways, I hope you'll enjoy!

P.S. I haven't forgotten about Po and the others - they'll return soon!

* * *

Tigress woke up early the next day. The break of dawn hadn't even come yet. But what had woken her up was a light tapping-sound on the floor. Listening, Tigress stayed in her bed.

It sounded like Mantis, but she knew that Mantis wasn't at the palace. Getting out of bed, she soundlessly opened her door, looking out at the corridor of the barracks.

She eventually came to the kitchen where she found Hui Dao sitting by the table, pouring up some tea.

"Is something wrong?" Tigress asked, sitting down next to him.

"No, just can't sleep," he said. "Figured I might as well just get up."

"Good idea," Tigress said, smiling faintly at her student. Just looking at him, she could tell that he was thinking about a lot. But Tigress wasn't sure if it would actually be a good idea to ask, since Hui Dao had seemed like a very enclosed type of person.

Hui Dao had also said that he would tell her if something was wrong, so Tigress figured that she'd just have to wait for him to do it. But Tigress just smiled at Hui Dao, which caused the young cheetah to shyly look down at his cup of tea.

Eventually Tigress went over to grab a cup for herself and poured herself some tea. She was somewhat surprised to find that it was her favorite flavor of tea, given that Viper had commented on how she didn't like it.

"You seem troubled," Tigress said. "Have you been thinking a lot lately?"

Hui Dao nodded. "Yeah… ever since you picked me up at that one orphanage… I have thought a lot about… stuff."

"Such as?" Tigress asked softly and took a sip of her tea.

"Well… just… I've always wondered who I am," Hui Dao said, taking a sip of his tea as well. "But now… I have a name – I'm someone."

"So you like your name?"

"I love it," Hui Dao said, making Tigress smile. "It reminds me of a poem I once read.

In a time where the dark covers all

At the end of the darkest days

In the name of the sacred blade

All the causes of sorrow shalt fall."

"Beautiful," Tigress said. "But it sounds more like a prophecy."

"I guess," Hui Dao said with a shrug. "But if it is, maybe it is my prophecy."

At first Tigress thought that he was serious, but soon she saw that the young cheetah was smiling. Tigress smiled as well. So he did own humor after all.

But nonetheless, he seemed like he was truly grateful for what Tigress had done for him this far. Tigress could only understand him. She had spent a few years of her life in the Bao Gu Orphanage and she knew just how Hui Dao had felt before she got him. But he had been there longer than she had, given his age, so he had gone through what Tigress had, but for a longer time.

Looking out the kitchen's window, Tigress saw that the sun was starting to rise, sending its first beams down on the Valley of Peace. For a while Tigress and Hui Dao just sat in the kitchen, drinking their tea slowly.

Tigress felt content, just sitting there with her student. For some reason, Tigress already felt like Hui Dao was her student alone. She knew that the others for sure would teach him a thing or two as well, but for the most part, he would be hers.

Soon the morning bell was heard and Tigress knew that Monkey and Viper would be awake by then.

"We better prepare some breakfast," Tigress told Hui Dao, who only nodded and together the two felines started making some breakfast. Hui Dao didn't seem to have ever cooked before in his life, but with Tigress' guidance, it went easily enough.

The young cheetah seemed to fit awkwardly into a kitchen, causing Tigress to lightly chuckle by seeing him. But despite this, his hands moved securely and even when holding lightly onto stuff, Hui Dao seemed to have a firm grip. The only thing that somewhat hindered him was his claws; due to not being able to retract them, he had to be careful not to scratch anything.

"Good morning, you two," Monkey said joyously as he entered.

"Good morning, Tigress said, smiling.

"'Morning," Hui Dao said, smiling faintly also, as he placed some cups for them to drink of as well as some soya milk.

"How long have you two been up?" Viper asked as she sat down, watching the two.

"A few hours," Tigress replied and placed some bean buns on four plates. The bean buns were some that Po had brought from his father's restaurant and of course they were of as high quality as the rest of the dishes that could be bought from Mr. Ping.

Tigress also found some various other things, such as already-fried bread sticks and pre-prepared noodles. Soon Hui Dao and Tigress placed the plates on the table. And at last the two felines sat down with the others.

"Looks great," Monkey said with a smile as the four started eating. For a moment the three Masters and the lone student sat without speaking. Tigress actually liked this – it made them all look like the family that she had never had.

"So, are you ready to start training?" Monkey asked Hui Dao after a minute or so.

The black cheetah nodded. "I have looked forwards to it. So what do we start with?"

"We'll see," Viper said with a smile. "Firstly we need to see what your strong and weak points are."

* * *

"Firstly, I will have to request you to hit my palm," Tigress said, holding out her hand.

"Really?" Hui Dao asked skeptically.

Tigress nodded determinedly. She knew for sure that no matter how hard Hui Dao would hit her palm, it wouldn't hurt her. "I need to feel how strong you are."

"But we both know that I'm pathetic," Hui Dao said, crossing his arms, looking away for a moment.

"We just need to build up your strength. But I need to know how strong you really are," Tigress said calmly, waving her palm a little back and forth. "Come on."

Hui Dao sighed at first, but eventually pulled his fist back, then smashed his fist forwards. It contacted with Tigress' palm and actually managed to make her hand move a bit, much to Hui Dao's own surprise.

"It seems that we have a bit less to build up than you think," Tigress said. Tigress walked over to the middle of the floor. "We will start with push-ups."

"Push-ups?" Hui Dao asked, sounding like he had never heard of such thing. At first Tigress thought that he was lying, just so that he wouldn't have to do it. But in the end, Tigress actually had to show the young cheetah how it was done.

Soon she told him to start with thirty – which eventually got cut down to twenty – and Tigress watched as the cheetah did so. As he reached ten, Tigress could already tell that the cheetah was getting tired. He was only halfway there, but she could tell by the way his arms shook; by the way that he seemed to grit his teeth that he was getting tired.

To Tigress this wasn't god news. That meant that there was far more to work on… but nonetheless, she knew that she would have to guide her student through it no matter what.

Once Hui Dao was done, Tigress told him to get up. He seemed exhausted already, but Tigress quickly moved on to the next part of the training session. She told Hui Dao to get into the starting position of Kung Fu, which she had showed him the day before.

Doing a quick series of punches and kicks, Tigress was impressed by how well Hui Dao learned. It was as if he completely copied her movements. Nonetheless it was impressive. He seemed to learn much faster than Tigress or any of the others had.

But in a sense, it could also be a bad thing; Tigress feared that the other students wouldn't be able to keep up with Hui Dao if he learned this quickly. Tigress decided that she would have to teach him what was suitable for the first level of Kung Fu – for now.

Tigress eventually showed him a few stances, defensive and offensive techniques that were pretty basic.

After this, Tigress taught him how to use the Gauntlets of Wooden Warriors. At first Hui Dao was somewhat confused, but after a few failing tries, the young cheetah seemed to figure out how they worked.

Patiently, Tigress watched him all the while. She felt incredibly proud – almost like a mother. It was satisfying to see a student – her student – doing so well. It touched her to feel like this. She could only wonder, was this how Shifu felt when he had trained Tai Lung? If so, had he felt any different when training Tigress?

Tigress sighed to herself, which Hui Dao noticed, incredibly enough. Even without looking at her, continuing to train with the Gauntlet before him, he asked, "Is something wrong, Master?"

Tigress simply shook it off. "No, nothing…"

"So how am I doing?" Hui Dao asked. Just the second after he asked, he also got his feet into working with the Gauntlet, kicking the wooden dummy. Soon he had found a completely different rhythm from the one he used earlier, impressing Tigress.

"You're doing great, Hui Dao," Tigress said proudly.

* * *

"Alright, Hui Dao," Monkey said. "Tigress said that you aren't well-developed in the strength department."

Hui Dao just shrugged. The two were outside, sitting on the tiles of the palace courtyard. Hui Dao had finished a rather challenging training session of strength with Tigress and now it was Monkey's turn to help him train some of his other aspects.

"But I suppose you're pretty fast, hmm?" Monkey asked. Hui Dao just shrugged once again. "Come on, Tigress stole your tongue?"

"No… I just… don't know," Hui Dao said.

"Why don't we find out then?" Monkey asked. Monkey then pointed. "See the gate over there?"

Hui Dao nodded.

"Let's see who gets there first and then back again!" Monkey said in a jolly tone of voice.

"Wait, wha-?"

"Ready, set; go!" Before Hui Dao could even prepare himself before Monkey had started running. Groaning to himself, Hui Dao quickly let the claws on his feet gently scrape against the tiles beneath, then he made a run for it.

Monkey was already far ahead, having almost reached the gate. Quickly looking back, he saw that Hui Dao had started running. Once Monkey reached the gate, he jumped up and used it to bounce himself in the opposite direction.

Meeting Hui Dao on the way back, Monkey just barely managed to wave cockily at him. Continuing further, Monkey was almost back  
at the starting position. But just then, a dash of black fur surpassed him.

Before Monkey could even comprehend it, Hui Dao was back at the starting position while Monkey got there about ten seconds later. Standing as if nothing had happened, Hui Dao had almost been a blur seconds ago.

"Whew, that was impressive," Monkey said joyously. "You're pretty fast!"

Hui Dao didn't reply, but suddenly he fell. Monkey hurried over to him, helping him from hitting the ground. Grabbing onto the feline, Monkey found that he was amazingly hot – literally! It was like touching a frying pan!

"I'm not… used to running," Hui Dao gasped. Monkey helped him to his feet.

"Come on, we better go get something for you to drink." It was with a lot of trouble that Monkey managed to get the young cheetah into the kitchen and get him a cup of water.

"I think I know where we begin," Monkey said.

"Where?" Hui Dao asked, still panting.

"With stamina," Monkey replied.

"Now what, more push-ups?"

"Hmm… not quite, but we'll see," Monkey thought for a moment. "But I think you need a break first."


	8. Visions

**A/N:** Hi guys! This is a relatively short chapter with a lot of short sections. I just couldn't get them to be any longer, so I hope it's okay. ^-^ As always, I hope you'll enjoy the chapter! :D

* * *

Tigress took in a deep breath. "Inner… peace… Inner… Peace… In-Inner… Peace…"

But no matter what Tigress did, she couldn't concentrate; too many thoughts on her mind. She eventually sighed and opened her eyes.

She was sitting in a cross-legged position in front of the Moon Pool of the palace. It had been a few days since Hui Dao had arrived and Tigress had tried her best to obtain Inner Peace… But no such luck.

As far as she knew, Master Shifu hadn't obtained it until his moment of death. Tigress however… Tigress still knew she had more years to come.

Eventually Tigress got up and walked towards the shrine she had made for Master Shifu. Looking at it for a moment, Tigress smiled a faint smile to herself. She then decided to try again.

Tigress sat down in a cross-legged position in front of the shrine. She then closed her eyes again. This time however a vision flashed before her eyes for a short time.

* * *

_It was the image of a shady silhouette against a background of bright, white light. Suddenly the symbols that read 'The Final Hope' appeared. But just as soon as it had appeared, the vision vanished again._

* * *

With a gasp Tigress opened her eyes again. What was that just now? Who was that? Who was the 'Final Hope'? The silhouette had unmistakably looked like an avian of some sort – it had had a slim body with long wings spread to the sides.

Tigress quickly got up and exited the Hall of Warriors. She hurried towards the palace courtyard where she knew Monkey and Viper were training Hui Dao. Seemingly Monkey was showing Hui Dao some staff techniques.

Walking towards them, Tigress' new, jade green shawl waved in the wind. She had gotten this shawl recently and it looked very similar to Master Oogway's. Due to having taken over the Palace for a short time, Tigress had been certain that Shifu would have worn one as well – therefore she got one herself to honor both Masters.

Tigress had also changed up her general style a bit. Underneath the elegant shawl, Tigress wore some more 'mature' robes, similar to Shifu's old ones in design, but they had the same red color as her old training robes.

"Tigress," Viper said once she saw her friend. Suddenly she noticed Tigress' worried face. "Is something wrong?"

"I have had a vision," she said, unbeknownst to herself, echoing Master Oogway. "We need… Have any of you heard anything from Po and the others?"

Both Monkey and Viper shook their heads.

"Either way, we need the new students…" Tigress stopped for a moment and looked at Hui Dao. He had only been at the palace for a few days, yet he had changed a lot. Tigress had gotten him some new clothes as well; a white jacket and dark gray pants.

To Tigress, the young cheetah looked more mature with this outfit and he seemed to fit in so well, he could have been a member of the current Furious Five.

Suddenly, much to Tigress' relief, Zheng, the palace messenger landed beside her – if one would call falling ten meters through the air a landing. "Master Tigress! Letter… the Dragon Warrior!"

Tigress quickly grabbed the letter that Zheng had in his one wing. Reading through it, her friends were waiting for her to tell them what it was. Viper didn't quite know what to anticipate, but she hoped that Po and the others had managed to find another student.

Suddenly Tigress smiled. "They've found a student."

"Yes, perfect!" Monkey said joyously. "When will they return then? We agreed on three students, right?"

"They're writing that she is a bird, so they've sent her here, escorted by Crane." Just as she said this, Tigress realized something. Her vision… it had been an avian! Could the 'Final Hope' really be this new student?

Tigress immediately felt herself become more excited and suddenly she noticed the awkward silence. "Well, I shan't stop you from training, shall I?"

"Oh, right, where were we," Monkey muttered and picked up his staff again. "Alright, Hui Dao, watch this. If they aim for your head, you can…"

"Viper, can I talk to you for a moment?" Tigress asked. The reptilian nodded and followed Tigress towards the Training Hall. The two eventually stopped right outside it and Tigress started, "I have had a vision."

"Yes, you said that earlier, Tigress," Viper remarked with a smile. "And it was about the new student?"

"I believe so," Tigress said calmly. She quickly recalled the vision. After a while she continued, "It was strange… The vision told me that said that this student was the Final Hope."

"The Final Hope?" Viper asked confused. "What do you mean?"

"I do not know," Tigress replied. She sighed. "But I saw the words before my eyes."

"Then how do you know if it was really this student?" Viper asked.

"It looked like-… I saw a silhouette," Tigress explained. "It looked like a bird-figure to me."

"But what about Hui Dao? Maybe it's him."

"We will see in time," Tigress said in a mysterious sounding tone of voice. "But I will stay by what I believe for now."

* * *

Two salesmen dragged a wagon through the mountains. They were walking on a rather narrow path. The snow, which was being swirled around by the strong wind, was almost too much for them, but they had to continue – had to get the wares they had with them to Gongmen City.

Suddenly the one of them, a sheep, slipped and almost fell off the edge of the cliff. Luckily he managed to grab a hold of the edge instead of plummeting to his death.

"Chen!" the pig called with a worried tone. He quickly left their wagon and hurried over to help his friend up.

"It's alright!" Chen shouted back in a reassuring tone of voice. "I just need to get up again, that's all!"

"Stay where you are!" The pig called as he extended his hand for the sheep to grab. The sheep let go of the edge with his one hand and reached for his friends'. At the same time, he also tried to use his feet to climb upwards, but the friction from his feet made the stone on the side of the mountain crumble.

Just before the two got a hold of each other's hands, Chen fell out of reach. Screaming, the sheep fell through the air. The pig screamed in terror as well, but suddenly something hit the sheep as he fell through the air.

"Chen?" the pig asked confused. Suddenly a powerful gust from the blizzard almost blew the pig off the edge as well, but he managed to make his way over behind the wagon.

He couldn't believe what had happened to his friend… what was he to do now? But before the pig could even start crying, something suddenly hit the ground beside him.

"Chen!" The pig hurried over to his sheep friend. "But how?"

"I don't know… someone just caught me… somehow," the sheep replied. Obviously he was very confused. Suddenly something or someone else hit the ground a few meters away.

But because the gusts of the blizzard came from the direction that the two had to look in in order to look at their adversary, they couldn't quite see him or her.

"It… it was you!" the sheep said, surprised. "Thank you so much for saving my life! How can we ever-?"

"Repay me?" a female voice asked.

"Yes, exactly," the sheep said.

"You don't owe me anything." Suddenly the silhouette against the white, snowy background stepped closer. Bringing up one of her arms, the duo saw the glimpse of metallic blades. This was the last thing they saw before she charged them.

* * *

_A vision… it was shining through her mind again. This time… This time she saw the same figure. The very same… She was certain of this. The background was different however. This time it was light purple… And the symbols… 'The Pursuit of the Jade'._

* * *

"Eh… Master Tigress?" Tigress opened her eyes again. At first her vision was somewhat blurry and she also felt slightly dizzy. She looked over at Hui Dao. He had a worried look on his face and was staring at her intently.

"I'm sorry, I believe I am just a bit tired," Tigress excused herself. She didn't want to tell Hui Dao about it – not just yet. Firstly, she didn't want him to hear about the first vision, since she had believed that it had been about one of the coming students; she didn't want Hui Dao to feel neglected.

But this vision… Obviously it had another meaning. But what did it mean? It certainly didn't sound; or rather seem, quite as positive as the previous one had. This had something to do with the pursuit of something… 'The Jade'.

Hui Dao tilted his head slightly. "Maybe you should go to bed."

It was late afternoon and the sun had just set in the sky. Hui Dao and Tigress had been walking towards the barracks after some more training. At first it had been to just get a cup of tea, but now it seemed that Tigress needed some sleep… at least in Hui Dao's opinion.


	9. Appearance of The White Flower

**A/N:** Finally another update. :) Also, if you're one of those who miss him, Po does make a minor appearance in this chapter, but he'll officially return home in the next one, so... yeah. :) Enjoy! :D

* * *

Hui Dao woke up. He had just recently fallen asleep, but some noise outside had woken him up. He eventually looked up and saw that there was light in the hallway. Soon two silhouettes appeared against the paper walls of his room.

He recognized Tigress, but the other one was new to him. Seemingly it was an avian – a bird – of some sort.

The young Cheetah found himself curious as to who it was and lied silently in his bed, listening.

"These are the barracks," he heard Tigress' voice say. She had the same mentor-like voice she had had when she had showed Hui Dao around, so he was certain that this was the new student. "Your room is this one."  
Hui Dao watched as the light of a supposed candle moved and he heard the door of the room next to his own, be opened. He then watched as the candlelight moved into the room, casting light against the wall that separated the two rooms.

"Looks comfortable," an unknown voice said. Hui Dao quickly analyzed the voice inside his mind – it sounded friendly, yet a bit shy.

"Alright," Tigress said after a little while. "You should get some sleep now – training starts tomorrow."

"I will, Master," the new voice said obediently, though still sounding shy and happy at the same time. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight." Hui Dao watched as the candlelight started moving and he heard how the door to the new student's room was closed. Watching the candlelight was the only way that Hui Dao would know where Tigress was – her walking was way too soundless to be heard.

Suddenly the candlelight stopped moving and Hui Dao quickly lied down on his side and pretended to be sleeping. As expected, his door was soon opened. He didn't look, but he could 'see' the light of the candle against his eyelids.

A few seconds went by, then Tigress closed the door again and left. Hui Dao opened his eyes and watched Tigress leave. He then looked towards the wall that separated his room from the new student's.

He then sighed lowly to himself and rolled onto his back and closed his eyes again.

* * *

Hui Dao woke up early the next morning. He had already gotten used to being woken up by the morning bell above the village. He quickly got out of bed, stretched his arms and exited his room.

Upon exiting, he almost ran into Tigress. Looking up at the older feline, he said, "Good morning, Master."

"Good morning, Hui Dao," Tigress said calmly. She then looked towards the room next to Hui Dao's. "I will go wake up the new student – she arrived just tonight."

"I know," Hui Dao said calmly. "I heard you."

Tigress seemed surprised and like she wanted to ask him why he had pretended to be asleep then, but eventually told him to go eat breakfast with the others. As the black cheetah left, Tigress opened the door to the new student's room.

"Good morning, Bai Hua, time to get up," Tigress said, somewhat loudly as she entered. The young owl yawned loudly, stretched her wings and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes with her wing feathers.

The snowy owl was covered in white fur from top to talon with lots of black spots all over and she had yellow eyes. She wore the same robes as when she had arrived, which, like Hui Dao's didn't look too good. They were old and torn, so Tigress knew that she would also have to get Bai Hua some new clothes.

"Do we have to…" Bai Hua stopped to yawn. "… Get up this early every day?"

Tigress nodded, sending her student a faint smile. "Yes, we will – sometimes earlier."

"Oh," Bai Hua simply said. She yawned again. "Guess I'll just have to get used to it."

Tigress chuckled a little. "Well, go join the others – they're eating breakfast now. I'll go get you some new clothes meanwhile."

"Wow, thanks," Bai Hua said with a smile as she and Tigress exited her room. When they got into the hallway, the two separated; Bai Hua went towards the kitchen and Tigress towards her own room, the one next to Po's.

Walking into her room, Tigress found a flat, wooden box from under her bed. Now that she had decided to wear a different outfit, since becoming the Master of the palace, Tigress had stored her old clothes away.

Holding up the red and black-trimmed vest, Tigress smiled a melancholic smile. She looked up and down the golden vine patterns with the black leaves and remembered when Shifu had given it to her.

* * *

_"This is for you." The young tigress stared at the vest as the red panda gave it to her. Just touching the soft silk sent a thrill down her spine – it was so smooth and soft!_

_Tigress gently stroked her hand across it once more. She then looked at Shifu. "Thanks."_

_"You're welcome," the old panda said calmly. He then left Tigress alone so that she could change. Discarding her old vest onto the floor, Tigress quickly slipped on the new one and closed the metal-fasteners._

_It felt just like her old one, except she found it easier to move around in it. The only major detail that physically made the new one different at first glance was the golden vine patterns on it._

_The patterns were simply there to give the vest more detail, but to the young tigress, it made her feel somewhat regal; never had she ever worn something with the color gold on it._

_Tigress quickly realized that she had gotten distracted and put on her same old waist strap and hurried out._

* * *

Tigress sighed to herself, still looking at the vest and the black silk pants that she had always worn. They were like memory-banks to Tigress… But now… now was the time to pass them on – to Bai Hua.

Tigress didn't know exactly why she gave them to her and not Hui Dao, but… To Tigress, it felt like the right thing to do.

* * *

Bai Hua slowly entered the kitchen. She could already hear voices talking happily to each other, which caused her to become slightly shyer, but eventually she slowly entered.

"… And then she hit them with a roundhouse kick!" Bai Hua saw a familiar figure, the red-crowned crane, Crane, amongst the people by the table. He sat with his side facing her and he was using his wings to explain some story seemingly, so Bai Hua simply waited for a moment.

Crane had escorted Bai Hua safely to the palace. Along the way, Crane had told her a lot of stuff – mainly stories about him and his friends – and this far, she liked him. He seemed like a nice person to her.

"Really?" the snake, which sat next to Crane, asked. "She sounds promising!"

Bai Hua realized that they were talking about her. She slowly approached the table and the golden-furred monkey, who sat opposite of Crane noticed her.

"Ah, there she is," the monkey said with a smile. "You must be Bai Hua."

"Yeah, I am," Bai Hua said shyly. She looked around at them all and noticed that the person who sat next to the monkey was a black feline of some sort. He looked like a black panther, but he looked way too skinny. He wore a white jacket with dark blue trims.

Bai Hua got a little more nervous as she thought that the expensive-looking jacket indicated that the palace had somewhat high standards.

"Aww, don't be shy," the snake said in a warm and kind tone. "You live here now – we're all friends here. My name is Viper."

It did help a little and a smile came across Bai Hua's face. Eventually Bai Hua walked over to sit down by the table, sitting next to the black feline. She then noticed that he had incredibly blue eyes, almost matching the trims on his jacket.

"My name is Monkey," the monkey, well, Monkey, introduced himself with a smile.

"And we've already met," Crane said, smiling at her as well. Monkey then patted the black feline's shoulder.

"Oh, right, my name is Hui Dao," he said. Bai Hua found his name – at least its meaning – interesting… but also a little intimidating. "Nice meeting you."

"Nice to meet you all," Bai Hua said smiling. "So what were you talking about?"

"We were just talking about how we found you," Crane said as Bai Hua started taking some food for herself. "But maybe you could tell the story from your perspective?"

"Yeah, different perspectives are good," Viper said with a smile and everyone agreed.

At first Bai Hua was a little shy and didn't really want to, but eventually she gave in and started.

* * *

_Bai Hua rushed through the City of Blissful Fragrance. She was on her way to her daily Kung Fu training at the local Kwoon. She had had to help out her parents at the tailor shop that the family owned. And especially one, very stubborn customer had been a pain for the young owl as she had had to find various dresses for her to take a look at – over and over._

_But finally Bai Hua had gotten out of there; now she could get back to her training – at least if she wasn't too late._

_Passing by a local restaurant, Bai Hua smelled a mixture of the food from the restaurant and the fragrance-like aroma that was always in the city's air. Just as she did, she ran past three people; a panda, a crane and a small mantis that sat on the panda's shoulder._

_Bai Hua didn't really pay much attention to the trio, but simply hurried on. Passing by more people and several shops on the way, Bai Hua finally reached the Kwoon, she hurried into the training hall._

_Upon entering, Bai Hua saw that her Master was waiting for her. Master Yansu was a rather grumpy old Master and Bai Hua knew that he wouldn't be pleased with her being late._

_"My, my, Bai Hua, you're late," Master Yansu said, not sounding utterly pleased._

_"I'm sorry, Master," she said and bowed. "I-…"_

_"No need to explain," he simply said, surprising the young snowy owl._

_"But-…"_

_"Since you started training here, this is the first time you've been late," the old leopard said. "I think I can let this one time go."_

_Without questioning her Master, Bai Hua just shrugged it off and the two were about to start their lesson._

_Bai Hua started out with some training on some wooden dummies that they had in the training hall. Other than these, there weren't many other training mechanisms in the hall as it was one of the less used Kwoons in the big city._

_Yansu and Bai Hua began to practice a series of Kung Fu Moves and as they did, the door to the training hall was opened. For a short while, the two kept practicing. Looking up briefly, Bai Hua saw that it was the same people she had passed by earlier._

_As soon as Yansu saw the trio, he asked Bai Hua to stop and so she did, folding her wings against the sides of her body, turning towards the guests._

_"Dragon Warrior," Master Yansu said and looked at the panda. And just then, it struck Bai Hua; the panda was the legendary Dragon Warrior! How could she not have recognized him right away?! "It is an honor to have you and… two out of the Furious Five…"_

_"Master Yansu," the Dragon Warrior said and bowed to the old leopard Master. "We came in the search of…"_

_Suddenly the doors to the training hall were ripped open._

_The three turned around, surprised, and saw three guys enter. They were pretty strong-looking and Bai Hua didn't know who they were. The way they walked towards Bai Hua and Master Yansu seemed like it was supposed to intimidate the two, but Master Yansu knew better than to be intimidated by these thugs._

_"I smell trouble," the mantis on the Dragon Warrior's shoulder said. The crane and the Dragon Warrior backed away a little. "Should we…?"_

_"Wait a little," the crane said. "Let's see what they want."_

_"Hey, you there," one of the newcomers, an ox said to Master Yansu. Bai Hua was surprised at how he addressed her Master; Master Yansu was highly respected in the city as one of the eldest of Masters that lived there._

_"Teach us Kung Fu!" the ox said._

_"Yeah, teach us how to beat people up!" a gorilla next to him said._

_"Kung Fu is most definitely not for thoughtless beatings," Master Yansu said._

_"What's that supposed to mean?" the third thug, a wolf, asked in a snarl._

_"That means 'no'," Master Yansu said._

_The three thugs seemed pretty surprised. Obviously they weren't used to having people say no to them. The ox, obviously the trio's leader, walked towards Yansu in a threatening manner and instinctively Bai Hua stepped forwards._

_"Oh, what's the little girl going to do?" the ox laughed, followed by a rather dumb-sounding laugh from his comrades._

_"We'll see," Yansu said. He looked at Bai Hua and nodded. The young looked at her Master with a surprised face, but eventually stepped forth._

_"If you can defeat her, I will take teaching you into consideration," Yansu said, although Bai Hua knew that the old leopard most likely wasn't serious about teaching them; they were just the type that he didn't like._

_Bai Hua took on a defensive stance, waiting for the ox to do something. However, he got a little insecure and eventually grabbed the wolf by his arm and shoved him forwards._

_"Hei, you're up," the ox said._

_"Why me?"_

_"Oh come on, she's just a girl," the ox said. "Get yourself together!"_

_Hei the wolf eventually brought up his fists in his idea of a defensive stance, jumped a little back and forth._

_"Guys," Bai Hua heard the Dragon Warrior say. "Maybe we should…"_

_"No, Po, I want to see this!" the mantis on his shoulder said._

_Suddenly the wolf jumped forwards with a punch, but Bai Hua simply blocked it with her wing, pushed his fist aside and smashed her talon against his head with a roundhouse kick._

_The wolf was knocked to the floor and his comrades were left speechless. The Dragon Warrior and his companions were as well, but for a whole other reason._

_Bai Hua took one step forwards, but the remaining thugs made a run for it like the cowards they were._

_"Good job, Bai Hua," Master Yansu said. He looked at the knocked out wolf. "Now we simply need to take out the trash."_

_"Again, what brought the Dragon Warrior, Master Mantis and Master Crane here?" Yansu asked, turning to the trio._

_"Well, we came in search of students," the Dragon Warrior replied. "Master Shifu… recently… passed away."_

_"I'm sorry to hear that," Master Yansu said. He looked down. "Shifu was an old friend of mine. I wish I could have heard this sooner."_

_The Dragon Warrior bowed quickly. "And we were thinking, what was her name… Bai Hua… Maybe she would want to come with us back?"_

_Yansu thought about it for a moment, but eventually turned towards Bai Hua. "Why don't you ask her yourselves?"_

* * *

"And then I went back to tell my family," Bai Hua finished the story.

"So, what did they say?" Monkey asked.

"They were overjoyed actually," Bai Hua said. "I mean, of course they were; being here at the Jade Palace is such a huge honor." She then turned to Hui Dao. "What about you?"

The black cheetah looked up as if an answer was completely out of question. But eventually he said, "My home is here; this place is the only place I can call home."

"But what about your family?"

No one said anything for a while. After a few seconds of Bai Hua thinking she had made a mistake, Hui Dao said, "Master Tigress… Master Tigress is the closest I'll ever get to a mother."

"What do you mean?" Suddenly Bai Hua realized it. "Are you an or-…?"

"We'd better get to start training," Hui Dao interrupted her. It was somewhat rude, but Bai Hua realized that it was because he didn't want to talk about it. So she decided to let it be; if she would ever know, it would be if he wanted to tell her only.


	10. Beginning

**A/N:** Hi guys, here's a somewhat short chapter. ^-^' But I will try to make the next ones longer. :) Anyways, enjoy!

* * *

"So… How do I look?" Bai Hua asked. She slowly spun around once. She had just received the new clothes that Tigress had told her she'd find for her; a red silk vest with golden vine patterns and black silk pants.

It was different from what Bai Hua usually wore – even despite her parents being tailors.

"It suits you," Tigress said with a smile. "It seems I made the right choice to give you these robes."

"What's special about them?" Bai Hua asked curiously.

"They belonged to me," Tigress said, a faint smile on her face as she shortly reminiscence the moment when Shifu had given them to her. "I have used them for training since I started – I hope you like them."

"I love them," Bai Hua said with a smile, Tigress returning the smile.

"Now, we should join the others," Tigress said and exited Bai Hua's room, the young owl following her new Master. Bai Hua was a little nervous about starting her training at the palace – she didn't even know how good Hui Dao was. What if he was better than her? That meant that she would have to train harder to keep up with him!

As the two made their way towards the Training Hall, Bai Hua told Tigress a little about her life before she came to the palace. She had told Crane about it on the way, but she hadn't told Tigress very much, despite her being the head of the Jade Palace.

"What did your Master think of you coming here?" Tigress asked as the two walked towards the Hall.

"Well, Master Yansu was fine with it," Bai Hua explained. "He told me that it seemed fate had big plans for me."

"And your parents?"

"They were overjoyed," Bai Hua said with a wide smile. "My father said that I was destined for greatness."

"Is that so?" Tigress asked with a chuckle. Kind of what Tigress had expected to hear. But she knew that time would prove this right or wrong. Finally the two came to the Training Hall.

Entering, the two found that Viper was teaching Hui Dao while Monkey and Crane were training themselves. Tigress quickly approached Viper, closely followed by Bai Hua.

Bai Hua was impressed with all of the training gear to say the least. The training gear they had had back in her local Kwoon was nothing compare to this. The Gauntlets of Wooden Warriors… They had had some mechanics similar to those, yet a bit different.

The Field of Fiery Death… Bui Hua hadn't ever tried a training mechanism like that, but she had heard about it… Yet, she didn't quite plan on getting all her feathers burnt off anytime soon.

And the other mechanisms… Bui Hua got a little nervous, seeing that they were seemingly able to kill her in an instant. Hopefully she'd get to start out with something a little easier.

"Oh, there you are," Viper said interrupting her and Hui Dao's lesson. She then noticed the outfit that Bai Hua was wearing and her face lit up. Hui Dao noticed as well, but simply raised an eyebrow. "Oh, she's wearing your old robes! They suit you."

"Thanks," Bai Hua said, sending the reptilian a smile. "So… What do we start with?"

"I would like to start by seeing how much you can already do," Tigress said calmly. "That's always a good way of finding out."

Eventually Bai Hua followed Tigress and Viper as they led her and Hui Dao outside. Once the four were outside, Bai Hua and Hui Dao positioned themselves to that they were facing each other with about two meters between them.

Tigress looked from Bai Hua to Hui Dao. At face value, the two were already very different… Now to see how different their skills were. Both students looked at Tigress, waiting for her signal. She waited for a few seconds… Then she eventually nodded.

Tigress knew Hui Dao well enough to know that he didn't know very much Kung Fu; only all the basics and a few more advanced moves, but it wasn't much. Having talked to Bai Hua, Tigress knew that the young owl did know… quite a lot more than that.

The two students kept their grounds for some time, then eventually Hui Dao made the first strike. The black cheetah jumped forwards with a punch, having his knuckles first.

Bai Hua knew the technique and easily dodged. Tigress noted that she was fairly fast; Hui Dao also seemed surprised. Bai Hua then made her own attempt to attack, doing a chop with her right wing.

Hui Dao, being a cheetah, was naturally much faster and easily dodged. The young feline stepped aside and in a dash he was behind Bai Hua. Hui Dao then repeated his attack, but amazingly Bai Hua was able to block it.

Tigress and Viper watched in silence, both somewhat impressed with what they had seen so far.

Bai Hua then slashed forwards with her left wing, which Hui Dao blocked, but then she struck with her right wing, just as the black cheetah blocked the first attack.

Hui Dao just barely managed to dodge by taking a short step backwards. Hui Dao then dashed to Bai Hua's side and managed to land a series of short, quick punches to her torso until she eventually blocked with one wing. Bai Hua then struck Hui Dao with her wing, hitting him in the stomach region, knocking him back.

Hui Dao eventually pulled a few feet back, then charged Bai Hua several at full speed from different directions, striking her every time he crossed her. But Bai Hua still managed to block every time.

"Enough," Tigress said when she saw that Hui Dao was growing tired from all the running. But at least it seemed that the training that the young feline had had this far had helped; when he started, he wouldn't have been able to make it this far.

"I have seen enough," Tigress said in a softer tone of voice as the two students stopped. They quickly bowed for one another, then bowed to Tigress and Viper.

"It seems that you know all the basics, Bai Hua – and a lot more as well," Tigress said calmly. Doing this, Tigress also noticed that Hui Dao didn't wait, but simply reentered the Training Hall, seemingly impatient. Viper shortly followed him and Tigress turned back to Bai Hua. "I believe we should start with… How long have you been training Kung Fu?"

"Since… Well, for a long time," Bai Hua said calmly. "All my life, almost."

Tigress nodded slowly. "Very well, I suppose we'll have to go over the techniques that you know."

* * *

"Is something wrong?" Viper asked Hui Dao as the two entered the Training Hall.

The black cheetah shook his head. "Why would anything be wrong?"

"… Never mind," Viper said after looking at his face for a while, trying to read his expression. But it didn't quite work; he was almost as stone-faced as she had seen Tigress be sometimes. "Let's just resume training."


	11. Return of Friends

**A/N:** Hi everyone! I'm bringing you another chapter, introducing a new character to the series, although you all probably know him... although you probably have a lot of different opinions about said person... but oh well, enjoy. :3 ^_^

* * *

Po and Mantis returned the next day. Everyone came to the front gates of the palace to greet them. Tigress was happy to see the two again, but then she noticed something; something seemed off about Po… It was as if he'd… changed, somehow.

Tigress couldn't quite put her finger on what it was, but something had definitely changed. Tigress was certain that she would have to talk to the great panda sooner or later.

What was even more surprising was who they had brought along – the third student. He was slowly following Po and Mantis, seemingly a bit shy, but not as much as Bai Hua had been.

"Hello, what is your name?" Tigress asked with a smile.

The young snow leopard bowed to Tigress. "My name is Peng."

Peng wore some robes that were different shades of brown – a pair of pants and a matching vest. He had grayish fur all over with some darker spots and some lighter fur on his underside and his eyes were yellow with amber irises.

"Pleased to meet you," Tigress said with a smile. "I am Master Tigress, I-…"

"Of course I know who you are," Peng said with a smile. "You took over the palace after-… Oh, I'm sorry, I…"

"It's alright," Tigress said, forcing a faint smile, although it did hurt her to remember Shifu. Tigress then went on to present the others, although Peng did know about them – as most people did.

"Now, these are your new fellow students," Tigress said, introducing Hui Dao and Bai Hua. The two students simply bowed, although Hui Dao seemed somewhat unhappy. "Bai Hua and Hui Dao."

Tigress still didn't know the young cheetah very well, but it was if his mood was always easy to figure out; it might as well have been written with white symbols on his forehead.

"Nice to meet you," Peng said with a modest smile.

"You too," Bai Hua said with a smile. To the young owl, it was somewhat weird to already be having another student join her, so shortly after she had arrived herself.

"Yeah," Hui Dao just said, forcing a smile for a short moment. Hui Dao was then introduced to Po, whom he seemed more eager to talk to and the two soon started conversing.

"Master Tigress?" Peng asked as they all headed for the palace to show him around.

"Yes Peng?" Tigress asked.

"I don't think Hui Dao likes me," the young snow leopard said, sounding somewhat sad.

"Don't worry, he's just not good at interacting with people for the first time," Tigress explained. "He has had a tough life; don't judge him too harshly."

"Alright, Master, if you say so," Peng said, smiling a little. Tigress then proceeded to show Peng around as the others went back to training – mainly tutoring Hui Dao and Bai Hua in this case.

Po also got some tutoring as he wasn't a fully fletched Master.

As Tigress showed Peng around, she couldn't help but feel a strange relation to him… as if she knew him. She didn't quite know what it was, but there was definitely something familiar about him. Hmm… whatever it was, Tigress couldn't put a finger on it… yet.

"And this is the Sacred Hall of Warriors," Tigress explained as the two entered said hall.

Peng's eyes widened a bit. "I've heard about this place… Amazing…"

Tigress then proceeded to show him the different artifacts and ornaments in the hall, ending with Shifu's 'shrine'. The young snow leopard seemed to be greatly touched by it, even despite his young age.

What surprised Tigress even more was seeing the young snow leopard bow to show his respect to the dead Master. This also touched her greatly and it brought up a faint smile on her face.

"And this is the Dragon Scroll," Tigress said as she presented the most prestigious of all of the artifacts of the Hall of Warriors.

Peng stared up at the golden scroll in awe. Seemingly he had heard about this as well.

* * *

"Is something wrong?" Bai Hua asked. Hui Dao just shrugged. It was still a little strange for the young owl to be talking to the black cheetah… Not that it was something she did often; he wasn't quite social, to say the least.

"No," he finally replied. The two students were taking a short break; Hui Dao was resting his back against one of the Training Hall's walls, his arms crossed and his one leg across the other. His eyes had been closed till now, but then he opened them, staring right into Bai Hu's soul with his cold, blue eyes.

"Alright, never mind," Bai Hua quickly said, trying not to meet his eyes. Bai Hua had already gotten to a conclusion; Hui Dao didn't want to talk… at least not to her. Maybe he'd rather talk to Tigress than her, who knew… All in all, Bai Hua decided to leave him alone for now.

* * *

"So where did you come from?" Bai Hua asked Peng as the two exited the Training Hall. The two students' training was over. Now all Bai Hua wanted, was to take break. She and Hui Dao hadn't been training much and Tigress had told the two that they could have the rest of the day off, shortly after she had finished showing Peng around.

"Well, the village I'm from is actually a bit far away," Peng replied with a smile. Yup, he seemed more like Bai Hua's type; since she had arrived, she hadn't seen Hui Dao crack a smile, not even once. Peng seemed a lot more casual.

Peng then pointed into the distance towards some mountains. "You see those mountains?" Bai Hua nodded. "Well, somewhere beyond those."

"So Master Po and Mantis came to your village?" Bai Hua asked curiously.

Peng shook his head. "No, I actually met them somewhere in between my village and here."

Bai Hua tilted her head slightly. "In between? What were you doing?"

"Well, I am, or rather I was, actually a potter," Peng explained. "I traveled and… well, I sold the stuff I made."

"How come you traveled around?" Bai Hua asked curiously. "Was it because your family needed the money, or…?"

"No, no, the reason I sold my pots was just so that I could have money," Peng explained. "I traveled around to find my uncle."

"Your uncle? How come you were looking for him?" Bai Hua asked confused. "I would have thought you'd known where he lived."

"Well, my family said they weren't quite sure," Peng explained. "So… I kind of had to wing it on that one."

Peng chuckled at his last comment and Bai Hua did as well. Suddenly Peng looked backwards, then asked, "What about Hui Dao?"

"Never mind him; he doesn't really talk to anyone," Bai Hua replied, seemingly misunderstanding Peng.

"What? No, no, I mean where'd he go?" Peng explained. "I would have thought he was done as well now."

"Hmm… I guess he just decided to stay and train," Bai Hua said. She then realized one positive aspect of the black cheetah; devotion… supposedly.

"So you haven't talked to him – like, at all?" Peng asked Bai Hua as the two came to the gate that led to the village beneath the palace.

Bai Hua shrugged. "Well, I've tried, but he turns away every time; it's like he stares into your soul!"

"I guess he just doesn't like being around others," Peng suggested. "I don't think we should just give him the personal space he needs."

* * *

"Po, can I talk to you for a moment?" Tigress asked the big panda. The two were in the Training Hall alongside the others, including Hui Dao.

"Eh… yeah, sure, Tigress," Po replied and the two exited the Training Hall. Getting to the front porch of the hall, the two sat down.

"Those robes actually suit you," Po said with a smile, although Tigress could sense something else behind the smile. She wasn't sure what, but she could sense that this might not become a very pleasant talk.

"So… what did you want to talk to me about?" Po asked Tigress, seemingly somewhat nervous – Tigress could almost feel it.

"Well… Po, since you and Mantis returned…" Tigress stopped for a moment and looked at the panda. "Since your return, I couldn't help, but… notice something."

"What are you talking about?" Po asked nervously. Now Tigress was certain that something was wrong.

"Po, please tell me," Tigress said calmly, although there was a tone of demand beneath it.

"Alright, fine," Po suddenly blurted out in a surprisingly loud tone. He sighed. "Ever since that day… the day Shifu passed away… I just… I just feel like it's my fault entirely."

"Po…"

"Tigress, let's face it," Po interrupted her. Tigress was surprised to see tears forming in the great panda's eyes. "If I had figured out the secret of the Dragon Scroll earlier, I would have been able to save Shifu; I could have stopped Tai Lung earlier."

"Po, it wasn't your fault; even Shifu couldn't figure out the secret of the scroll," Tigress said, trying to comfort Po. At a time like this, the mere mention of the now dead Master seemed to make the conversation all the more depressing.

"Tigress… Do you…? At any point… have you ever blamed me?" Po asked, the tears starting to stream down his cheeks.

It really crushed Tigress to hear Po ask this question, let alone see him like this… But what hurt her most was the answer; yes, she had blamed him at least once.

But had she ever hated the panda? No, she hadn't… Yet, she couldn't bring herself to answer his question. Tigress simply didn't want to think about how he would take it.

"Po… I…"

"Tigress, please just answer me," Po said, still crying. Tigress couldn't bring herself to say 'yes'…

"Sorry, Po," Tigress replied. "But I simply cannot answer a question like that."

Po wiped a tear away with his hand. "I take that as a yes."

Before Tigress could say anything else, the great panda got up and walked towards the gate of the palace. Tigress called out for him, but Po continued. Tigress called for him one last time in a more strict tone, but Po simply exited the gate, leaving Tigress back on the front porch, all alone.


	12. Return of Fiends

**A/N: **And so, here's another chapter. :) NOTE: once you're done head over to my profile; I have a poll there, which you should only check out after this chapter, since it is kind of spoiler-ish. But it will have an effect on the story - I wanted to make it at least a little bit interactive. So if you head over to my profile to vote, you could help determine what turn this story will take. In the future there will be more polls. :)

Anyways, enjoy this chapter! :D

* * *

"Hey Tigress, have you seen Po anywhere?" Monkey asked. Tigress didn't reply right away. What could she even say? That he left because of her?

"What do you mean?" she asked, trying her best to sound blunt. She was sitting on the front porch of the palace, simply relaxing in the pleasantly cool morning air.

"I haven't seen him anywhere since yesterday," Monkey replied. "Do you know where he is?"

"… No, I don't, unfortunately," Tigress replied. It wasn't a straight-up lie; she did not know where he was – only why he had left. "Have you not tried to look anywhere around the village?"

Monkey shrugged. "Well… Not really… I guess I should… See you Tigress."

"See you," Tigress replied calmly as Monkey walked towards the palace's main gate. Once he was gone, Tigress sighed to herself. She wished she knew what to do about Po.

Should she go talk to him? Would he listen? Tigress hadn't dared trying to find him, but had tried her best to get back into her new routine as the Master of the palace.

Speaking of which, her new students seemed to fit in quite nicely… at least Peng and Bai Hua. Tigress didn't know why, but it was as if there was some kind of problem, which kept Hui Dao from acting like he was at home… Or even get him to crack the smallest trace of a smile.

Tigress didn't quite understand… and she didn't know what she could do about the young cheetah.

As she kept thinking it all through, Tigress got up and headed for the Hall of Warriors. She casually entered and found that it was empty, since the others were training with the students in the Training Hall.

Tigress made her way up to Shifu's shrine. Just looking at her still made her somewhat miserable on the inside… Yet, one part of her knew she would soon have to leave the past behind.

Tigress didn't want to forget Shifu, but she knew she couldn't keep mourning forever. Tigress stared at the shrine for a moment, taking in all of its details once again. She had been the one who had put it up, but she still enjoyed looking at it.

As she looked at the shrine before her, Tigress softly whispered, "What should I do?"

Tigress waited for a moment, hoping something would hit her as inspiration. As she stared at the shrine, she tried to think… What would Shifu do in a situation like this? What had he ever done for her?

Tigress did remember – when she still lived in the orphanage… Upon his first arrival, what had Shifu done for her? Well Tigress did remember how he had helped her calm down – taught her how to control her temper and her strength.

But Hui Dao didn't have trouble with his temper… But maybe he had trouble with socializing with the other students… It did seem likely, now that Tigress thought about it.

The young cheetah had actually seemed happy, but somehow that had changed when Bai Hua and Peng came to the palace too. Yes, that most likely seemed to be the problem.

Tigress calmly nodded to herself. She would have to find some way to make Hui Dao socialize with the others… but how?

* * *

She landed on the rooftop, overlooking the Jade Palace. It looked just like it had when She saw it the last time… although it was quite some time ago. Smirking to herself she watched as someone left the Training Hall.

She didn't recognize this person… This person was an owl, like herself, although seemingly a snowy owl. This younger owl was covered in white feathers all over, although she also had a lot of black ones.

The younger owl was followed by a young snow leopard, making it clear to Her that there were several students at the palace now – just like when She had been one herself.

"Interesting," She muttered to herself. Suddenly someone else exited the Training Hall. This person was a black… feline of some sort. She wasn't quite sure what he was. One would first guess that he was a panther – a black leopard – but knowing several leopards, She saw that he appeared far too skinny to be one.

Watching them, She sensed darkness within them. Somehow, somewhere inside them was a darkness… a darkness that could easily be awakened.

* * *

"Hey Hui Dao," Bai Hua called. The black cheetah turned around. Seemingly he was heading for the Peachtree of Heavenly Wisdom.

"What?" he asked calmly and crossed his arms. This already showed that he didn't quite want to talk, making Bai Hua's smile fade a little.

"Well, Peng and I are going to Mr. Ping's noodle shop," Bai Hua said. She stopped for a moment. "Do you want to come along?"

"… No thanks," Hui Dao replied and turned around again, leaving. Bai Hua sighed to herself.

Well at least he was polite and said 'no thanks' instead of just 'no', she thought to herself. She turned to Peng. "Should we get going then?"

"Sure, let's," Peng said, although he did look at Hui Dao before following Bai Hua. Peng didn't get what his deal was. Never had he met someone who was as cold and distant as Hui Dao. No, it just appeared weird to him that anyone could be that way.

Hui Dao continued towards the Peachtree. He didn't understand them… their need for company. Wasn't that a weakness? Displaying that you needed someone else like that?

The black cheetah shrugged it off and continued. But as he walked, Hui Dao felt a strange presence near him. He had no idea why, but he just felt… watched. He stopped... then turned around. No one was there.

Hui Dao looked to the sides… Nope, no one was there. He then looked up, just to be sure… But as expected, no one was there.

Hui Dao sighed to himself… maybe it had just been his imagination.

When he finally reached the Peachtree, Hui Dao sat down and closed his eyes, listening to the sounds of nature for a while. Then suddenly he heard a gust nearby. But this wasn't a natural gust – it was one that was created by a wing. Having trained with Bai Hua, he had learned the difference between these.

"Who are you?" the black cheetah asked. He opened his eyes and scanned the area. "Show yourself."

"You're a sharp one, aren't you?" a female voice asked. Hui Dao got to his feet and looked around. Suddenly something came towards him from the side. Instinctively Hui Dao turned his head before he could dodge. Before long he found himself on his back with someone standing with their one foot on his chest… or rather their one talon.

"Who are you?" Hui Dao growled, trying to get up, but when he felt the sharp talons press against his chest, he hesitated.

"My name is Fenghuang," the owl presented herself. She was covered in dark gray feathers all over with some black ones here and there and some white ones in her face. Her eyes had a clear purple color, taking a lot away from the somewhat plain colors that her feathers had.

"What do you want from me?" Hui Dao asked, trying to get up. Suddenly Fenghuang started gently tapping her talons against his chest, sending chills down his spine.

"I want to ask you something," Fenghuang replied. "You're a student here at Jade Palace, aren't you?"

"And so what if I am?" Hui Dao asked, still struggling to get up.

Fenghuang pressed her talons against his chest once more. "You see, boy, I would like to ask you; why don't you become my student?"

"Tsk, why would I?" Hui Dao asked. "I don't see any reason why I would."

"Do you not wish to become stronger?" Fenghuang asked sneakily. Her tone of voice then changed drastically. "I see great potential in you… and I highly doubt that anyone here could possibly bring it out."

"What makes you so sure about that?" Hui Dao asked.

"I was once a student here at Jade Palace," Fenghuang explained, a gleam in her eyes. "I know how confining these people are towards true power and true talent. All you will ever achieve you'll achieve by yourself, not with their help."

Hui Dao thought about it. To be fairly honest, he hadn't learned utterly much at the Jade Palace… Also, the focus of the Five had quickly switched to Bai Hua and Peng… due to them being 'more experienced' than him.

Was his presence even needed? Come to think of it, Fenghuang did have a good point… but would he join her?

Suddenly Fenghuang lifted her talons off of his chest. Hui Dao carefully got to his feet, his eyes never leaving Fenghuang. She seemed like a formidable foe and if she tried anything…

"So will you join me…?" Her tone hinted that she wanted him to tell her his name.

"… Hui Dao…"

"Hui Dao… Hui Dao, will you become my student?" Fenghuang asked smugly. Hui Dao took a moment to think… Should he, or should he not?


End file.
